Put Down Your Guns America

 

 

Back in late July, I wrote a post titled “Put Your Stones Down”. (God, was it really only July?) Long story short, it was a from-the-heart post in which I begged, probably even condemned, people who were quick to throw judgment about in light of horrific events, to put their stones down. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter why people had children at a midnight screening of Batman. It wasn’t the parents fault they were shot.

Today, in light of the shooting in Connecticut, I couldn’t help but wonder if any of those stone throwers were wondering “What on earth possessed parents to send their  children to school today?”

No. Of course not. They’ll have to find other scapegoats for this one.

Unfortunately, no one can jump inside the mind of a mad man after he’s snapped. Where he will snap is anybody’s guess really. Movie theatre, mall, or school, the tragedy remains as poignant. If there was logic in it, we could understand, but it’s called mental illness because no one does.

Yet, the issue that really mattered in this instance was missed almost immediately. The shooter had “aspergers” and the mother was “strict”. Oh, yes, yes that must be it. I wonder if that is really making anybody feel better?

Consider this though:

Ah, yes. There’s the heart of the matter Michael.

When I first heard the news on the radio, my knee-jerk reaction was to pull my kids from school and homeschool them. I wanted to wrap them in bubble wrap and never let them out of my sight. The world is a sick, sick place I thought. And then I remembered, I’m Canadian, and while this sort of tragedy has happened here, it is no where near the level our neighbours to the south continue to experience.

Because we have gun control, not guns.

For what it’s worth, I’m fairly certain I could get a gun in Canada if I really, really wanted one for hunting. I’m also pretty sure that if I wanted something that fired multiple rounds at a time, I’d have to obtain that illegally, because any moron can tell you that a semi-automatic anything is a “people killer” not a “hunting gun”. So there’s that. Then, of course, there’ s the fact that I’m also fairly certain I’d have to go through a number of security checks to obtain my one-bullet-at-a-time weapon, which might drastically reduce any heat of the moment revenge I was seeking. Also, I haven’t researched any of this because I don’t feel the need to own a gun.

Finally, there’s also the fact that I grew up in a culture that thinks walking around with guns on your person or in your purse is nuts.

I remember being at Disney a few years ago and listening to a woman argue with a ticket agent for the right to bring her gun into the park.  She was turned away, I was gobsmacked. What the hell would possess a person to want to bring a gun into the happiest place on earth? Did I pull out my judgment and my stones on that woman? Definitely.

So, I would say this to my American neighbours:

Get your house in order. Your right to bear arms is killing your own children. Stop being so damned stubborn and open your fucking eyes.

Parents who expected to fill up stockings and tuck gifts under a tree in a little more than a week will now be attending funerals. Parents who expected to nurse colds, rub backs, help with homework, attend graduations, walk their child down the aisle to get married and bounce grandchildren on their knees have been destroyed. Hopes, dreams and futures gone forever.

And the sickening reality of this, is all of this pain is for naught. It will happen again. In our heart of hearts, we know it will.

 

*photo credit http://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/monumento-al-no-nacido-plasma-dolor-del-aborto-en-mujeres/#.UMvy-aXO75Y